I never actually took either of you on. So let’s have at it. I need a challenge.
“Insisting that Oblivion is an action game and therefore they should go to ActionVault for news on it rather than RPGwatch, won't make sense to most people and would leave everyone confused.”
What about jrpgs? Why aren’t they covered here? Doesn’t that lead to the same confusion? What if actionvault did cover Oblivion? Would they be in the wrong? It is a hybrid game, so both sides should cover it, right? What if a console rpg site that covered all jrpgs also covered Zelda, would that confuse anyone? Zelda is not a jrpg, but has a crossover audience.
Oblivion has a slew of rpg elements, without ever being an actual rpg. Same with bloodlines, etc. An rpg site should cover action games with rpg elements. If you covered only real rpgs you wouldn’t have much to post. You also cover the UFO: Extraterrestrials, which is a TBS. I don’t see people crying that that isn’t called an rpg. Rpgs can coexist alongside non-rpgs is harmony. I’m just factually trying to label things correctly. And a rpg is a rpg is a rpg.
“Roqua's law of non-contradiction is a red-herring. If you accept his original premise, there's no need for further discussion. If you don't, the law is irrelevant because there is no contradiction.”
Thank you for giving me credit for the law, but I didn’t invite it or it’s mathematical proofs. And there is no choice but to accept my original premise. But, for the sake of argument lets say there is a sane way to not accept simple logical fact and move on to example 1) and 2).
Please respond to these two examples. Is my thinking right or wrong? For the group A) and B) example, if there was a LARP site, and not much LARP action going on, and their LARP audience also contained a large number of people who enjoyed the mock battles of ARMA, that site wouldn’t be wrong in covering news about both. After years and years pure mock battles fans might outnumber the larp fans, but the two activities will never fit in the same category. They will always be different, no matter how much wishing and wanting or willful ignorance on the side of the fans of both activities.
You grew up playing pen and paper games, I grew up playing crpgs. Is my introductory wrong about what rpgs do and the need they were created to fill? Or my statement that in movies, books, and most video games you live vicariously through the characters, and in a rpg the character lives vicariously through you?
In pen and paper games, you can play the hack n’ slash style. The DM could use a module, like ToEE, and the players have a straight linear hack n’ slash progression through it, or it could be roleplay heavy and involve little combat. Its up to the players what type of sub-rpg genre the pnp game takes. In a crpg the sub-genre is already decided on, for the most part, by the devs of the game. But, what pnp games will never be is action games, and there will always, always be a total divide between the physical attributes of player and character.
I ask you please, please, respond to all arguments in my first post. I will gladly respond to and address your best arguments. If you make a valid point I will concede the point. If you prove me wrong I will concede the debate and never mention the topic again.
But, I think you will find that my arguments (not including the law of non-contradiction that we are ignoring for now) are correct.